Manjunath Rajashekhar

Dr. Manjunath Rajashekhar joined the College of Medicine & Dentistry, James Cook University, Australia as a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Dentistry and Dental Public Health in 2021. He works as The Director of the Simulation Clinic. Dr. Manju completed his Bachelor of Dental Surgery and Master of Dental Surgery in the specialty of Preventative and Dental Public Health from prestigious universities in India. He started his teaching career as a lecturer in the specialty of Orthodontics and then as a general dentist in private practice. He worked as an Assistant Professor before he moved to New Zealand. He currently holds an Adjunct Professor position at Yenepoya University, India. He has extensive teaching experience (undergraduates and postgraduates) and research. He has presented papers at various national and international conferences and was awarded with best paper presentations in India and Australia. He is the first Public Health Dentist awarded with Diplomate of National Board in the specialty of Dental Public Health from the Government of India. Manju serves as an independent reviewer for PhD students from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India.

Dr Manju completed his New Zealand Dental Registration Examination and started working in a private dental practice in Auckland. He also completed a Post-graduate Diploma in Public Health with Distinction from The University of Auckland before he moved to Australia. In 2013 he moved to Cairns where he worked as a Dental Officer at Wuchopperen Health Services. He was the runner-up for the Best Dentist Award two times from the North Queensland Public Health Network (NQPHN). He worked collaboratively with other specialty health providers to meet the oral health needs of the Indigenous population. He was awarded the Membership of the Royal Australian College of Dental Surgeons (MRACDS) in the specialty of Dental Public Health. Dr Manju also started his private dental practice and provided oral health care to the population with a philosophy of prevention and health promotion.

Dr Manju is doing his Masters of Dental Public Health from The University of Sydney. His project is on mapping the dental services provided by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCHOs) across Australia and investigating the barriers and enablers to integrate oral health services in their existing primary health care services.

Dr Manju's current research interest aligns to:

1. Indigenous oral health

2. Fluoride in dentistry

3. Rural and regional oral health services - barriers and enablers

Manju is open for collaboration and team supervision for HDR students and Honours